Britney Spears’ Circus comes to town

Britney Spears staged her comeback concert in New Orleans March 3, kicking off a Circus tour that just might solidify her position back atop the pop music map.

Britney’s big top-themed show featured three rings and lots of costume changes. Many of those were highlighting the fact that after two kids and a nervous breakdown, Britney still isn’t the girl she used to be. One squeezed her tummy so tightly it came out the top of her corset (photo below). Another proved Brit has such a deep and abiding love for Cheetos that she wore Chester the Cheetah on her head.

As for the show itself, even MTV says they would be hard-pressed to find moments of Britney actually singing.

Most, if not all, was lip-synced, and when any actual sound came out of Brit’s mouth it was talking, not singing. Some close-up concertgoers reported that Britney didn’t so much dance as sort of walk around a lot, and didn’t bother to mouth many of the words she was supposed to be syncing with.

But was it a show? Oh yes, if by “show” you mean “spectacle.”

Fireworks, jugglers, clowns, magicians, martial artists, acrobats and rings of fire all gave the audience what they paid for — thrills. And Team Britney knows that if this tour fails, there will be no more comebacks.